2015 NHL Draft
SHARE
Share with your Friends


(Page 1 of 1)
NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

MacKinnon: Drouin earned his top-prospect status

Tuesday, 09.09.2014 / 3:21 PM / NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- Nathan MacKinnon knows a little something about how to excel as a rookie in the NHL.

He did it in 2013-14 as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, leading all first-year players in points (63) and tying for first in goals (24) en route to winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

MacKinnon is pretty confident that Jonathan Drouin, his former linemate with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, is ready to take a similar path with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2014-15.

Drouin was voted the No. 1 NHL prospect on NHL.com's Top 60 prospect ranking, released Tuesday.

"I don't see a lot of junior-hockey highlights now but I'm on Twitter and noticed he was tearing it up," MacKinnon said of Drouin. "He had some sick games and I watched the highlights online. I still try and follow the Mooseheads whenever I can."


Lightning's Drouin highlights top 60 prospects

Tuesday, 09.09.2014 / 3:00 AM / NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

NHL.com Staff

The star power in the League today is obvious, from Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers to Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks and Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings.

But that's the present. What about the stars of the future?

To answer that question, NHL.com set out to come up with the 60 best NHL prospects. Three members of the NHL.com staff, Adam Kimelman, Corey Masisak and Mike Morreale, were enlisted to accomplish that task, along with three NHL scouts, each of whom promised honesty in exchange for anonymity.

Numbers show depth of NHL's prospect pool

Tuesday, 09.09.2014 / 3:00 AM / NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor

Coordinating six voters to compile their lists of the top 60 NHL prospects creates some interesting sets of numbers.

The most important number was one, for the spot Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin claimed, finishing ahead of Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson. Drouin, a high-scoring forward, was the third pick of the 2013 NHL Draft and the top selection by two voters and second on another ballot.

Here are a few other interesting numbers that came out of NHL.com's Top 60 prospect ranking:

Three prospects worthy of top-60 consideration

Tuesday, 09.09.2014 / 3:00 AM / NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor

The pipeline of talent flowing into the NHL likely never has been as rich as it is right now. So when narrowing a list of top prospects to 60 players, it's going to leave some future talent on the outside.

Three players who could have been on the list are Buffalo Sabres forward Hudson Fasching, New York Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock and Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros.

Fasching was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round (No. 118) of the 2013 NHL Draft and traded to the Sabres in March. A 6-foot-2, 213-pound power forward, he had 14 goals and 30 points as a freshman at the University of Minnesota last season and two goals and four points in five games for the United States at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship. He'll likely have a prominent spot on the team that plays for the U.S. at the 2015 WJC.

Led by Sweden, European players continue to emerge

Tuesday, 09.09.2014 / 3:00 AM / NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff Writer

The percentage of European-born and -trained players selected at the 2014 NHL Draft was the highest it has been in more than a decade.

Leading the way was a heavy dose of Swedish standouts, representing 27 of the 66 European players picked in seven rounds at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The European contingent made up 31.4 percent of the players chosen; the remainder hailed from Canada or the United States.

The number of Europeans who played at least one NHL game last season was 25.1 percent, which has been roughly the average during the past five seasons; the highest percentage of Europeans playing in the NHL in a given season during the past 14 seasons was in 2001-02 (33.6 percent).

Coyotes excited about Max Domi's potential

Tuesday, 09.09.2014 / 3:00 AM / NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff Writer

There's no denying Arizona Coyotes prospect Max Domi possesses the offensive tools required to one day play an integral role in the lineup, but his adjustment to reach that status remains in question.

Of all the players on NHL.com's Top 60 prospect rankings, Domi was the most divisive. The 19-year-old was ranked as high as No. 12 and as low as No. 53 on the six lists submitted; the other four lists had him No. 16, No. 30, No. 32 and No. 42. Some evaluators point to Domi's 5-foot-9, 197-pound frame as a hindrance to his development. Others feel it's just maturity. Then there's some who believe he's ready to be an NHL regular.

"I think Max has a tremendous upside as an offensive player and has shown an ability to dominate at the junior level, but maybe there's some prejudice because of his size," Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said. "I think it's just maturity to be honest; there are times when he tries too hard. Whether or not he'll star in the League this November or two Novembers from now, I can't tell you."

Capitals, Ducks lead pack in Top 60 prospect rankings

Tuesday, 09.09.2014 / 3:00 AM / NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor

The Stanley Cup fortunes for the Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals might not be the same right now, but they have to like where their futures are headed.

The two franchises each had four players in NHL.com's Top 60 prospect rankings, the most of any team.

The Capitals had two in the top 15, led by center Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was No. 3 in voting by three NHL.com staff writers and three NHL scouts. After four seasons of watching and waiting, the 22-year-old showed he was worth the patience with three goals and six assists in 17 late-season games.

Making the cut: Top 60 prospects composite rankings

Tuesday, 09.09.2014 / 3:00 AM / NHL.com's Top 60 Prospects

In order to find out who could be the next stars in the NHL, we unveil NHL.com's Top 60 Prospect Rankings.

The list is a composite drawn from three NHL.com staff writers, Adam Kimelman, Mike Morreale and Corey Masisak, as well as three anonymous NHL scouts.

The only rule the voters were given was that players have to enter the 2014-15 season with Calder Trophy eligibility.

First-place votes on the list were valued at 60 points, second-place votes at 59 points, and it continued down through the No. 60 player on each list receiving one point.

1

NHL.TV™

NHL GameCenter LIVE™ is now NHL.TV™.
Watch out-of-market games and replays with an all new redesigned media player, mobile and connected device apps.

LEARN MORE

NHL Mobile App

Introducing the new official NHL App, available for iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets. A host of new features and improved functionality are available across all platforms, including a redesigned league-wide scoreboard, expanded news coverage, searchable video highlights, individual team experiences* and more. The new NHL App on your tablet also introduces new offerings such as 60fps video, Multitasking** and Picture-in-Picture.

*Available only for smartphones
** Available only for suported iPads